Using Kotlin for Android development

What is Kotlin?

Kotlin is a language by JetBrains, the company behind IntelliJ IDEA, which Android Studio is based on, and other developer tools. Kotlin is purposely built for large scale software projects to improve upon Java with a focus on readability, correctness, and developer productivity.

The language was created in response to limitations in Java which were hindering development of JetBrains' software products and after an evaluation of all other JVM languages proved unsuitable. Since the goal of Kotlin was for use in improving their products, it focuses very strongly on interop with Java code and the Java standard library.

Why Kotlin?

100% interoperable with Java - Kotlin and Java can co-exist in one project. You can continue to use existing libraries in Java.

Concise - Drastically reduce the amount of boilerplate code you need to write.